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I dropped out of medical school; now what?

What are some ways to pivot if you drop out of medical school?

Note: This is part of our Professionals series where volunteers share questions they wish they saw on the platform

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Sharon’s Answer

Well, it depends on whether you are still interested in healthcare. If you are, then I would recommend going down the path of becoming a registered nurse and then on to nurse practitioner if you want. The field of nursing is so broad you can pick so many different areas to work in such as becoming a labor and delivery nurse, an operating room nurse, a pediatric nurse, a school nurse. If you like any of those fields it is doable to move on and become an advanced nurse. I worked as a neonatal intensive care nurse and then went on to become a family nurse practitioner and have had a wonderful career working with children and families. So rewarding! But.... if healthcare is not your thing then I would take a break from college and search out other career paths perhaps by shadowing people in their work to see what kinds of work feels good to you!
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Linda’s Answer

Pray about it first. What would God want you to do with your life. He guided my steps in becoming a nurse. First a RN. Later my first job was a medical surgical nurse. Later a home health nurse where I became fascinated with wound healing and what products worked to heal wounds. I also use to watch the ET Nurse (ostomy nurse) and thought I’d like the one on one with patients. This all led me to become a CWOCN later in life. When you find your passion in the area of Nursing, it’s amazing, I love what I do, that I really don’t want to retire.

Linda recommends the following next steps:

Become a nursing assistant first
Than become a RN
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Linda’s Answer

There are all kinds of opportunities in the area of health care. I recommend first becoming a RN
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Midwest’s Answer

First, congratulations! Making a career move of that magnitude takes a tremendous amount of courage, honesty, and reflection. Your first move should be more of the same, which is making an honest assessment of your priorities and future goals. With such a big career pivot, you likely will not have an immediate plan ready to go, so your focus may be on mapping out the process you will use to determine your next steps, rather than an already determined list of next steps. One major delineation is whether you wish to remain in healthcare or pursue a different industry.

If remaining in healthcare, there are numerous pathways, such as physician assistant, nurse, nurse practitioner, first assistant, medical administrator, and many more roles in both inpatient and outpatient settings. To determine which to pursue, consider why you left medical school and what you truly value. What do you want your daily life to look like? What is needed to obtain that?

The most important advice during this time is to perform self reflection, honesty, and assessment. The first step immediately following this decision is likely to take a breath and perhaps take a step away from the situation entirely, then revisit it with a fresh look.

If you wish to exit healthcare, then you could revisit a decision making process similar to during undergrad time where you determine what motivates you and what will make you into the happiest and best version of yourself.

Next steps:

Midwest recommends the following next steps:

Take a break, rest, and relax
Decide whether you want to remain in healthcare
Make a list of characteristics you value in a career
Create a timeline for next steps
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Jennifer’s Answer

Take a step back, breath, reflect and assess. I would say you need to be honest with yourself and determine why you dropped out. Do you want a career in healthcare or want to go in a new direction? If you aren't sure you may need to take some time and figure out what you like and don't like. Slow and steady small steps are much better than giant leaps.
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